January 17, 2007

 

Indonesia to cull backyard chickens to control bird flu

 

 

Indonesia will slaughter hundreds of thousands of backyard chickens over the next week in a bid to stem a surge in human deaths from the H5N1 virus, the health minister said Wednesday (Jan 17).

 

Siti Fadilah Supari said local governments would issue regulations banning the rearing of poultry in residential areas, signaling a more forceful approach in the nation worst hit by the virus.

 

She said owners would receive compensation of just under US$1.50 per bird, with the main focus of the cull in the capital, Jakarta, and densely populated areas to the west where most of Indonesia's human infections have occurred.

 

Nine hard-hit provinces in the sprawling archipelago would be included in the cull, she said.

 

"We have to separate fowl from residential areas," she told reporters. "That is what we have learnt from Vietnam."

 

Indonesia's cash-strapped government has come under fire for failing to make adequate efforts to fight H5N1 and has largely failed to follow through on earlier promises to stamp out the virus through mass culls.

 

In an early sign of possible confusion about the campaign, Supari said the cull would occur within the next week, but Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said residents in the capital would have two weeks before officials began forcefully slaughtering birds.

 

"I would lead by example by killing the birds at my house," said Sutiyoso.

 

Indonesia has recorded 61 deaths from bird flu, four in the last week. The virus has killed at least 161 people worldwide since late 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

 

Bird flu remains hard for humans to catch. But international experts fear it may mutate into a form that could spread easily between humans and potentially kill millions around the world.

 

Until last week, Indonesia had not recorded any cases for six weeks - a lull that led some Indonesian officials to say they were succeeding in beating the disease.